Taking Notes Once you find a good source you want to use for your paper/project, begin a Works Cited page & record the source in MLA Citation style. Some teachers require you to fill out source note cards. Below are common source formats with examples. Scroll down for tips about note taking.(Note: Some teachers may prefer APA format.) MLA Citation Examples for Common Sources: All entries:
Are alphabetized by the first letter in the entry
Are double-spaced
Begin at the left margin
Indent 5 spaces for all succeeding lines of the same entry
Book – Print Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title. City Published: Publisher, Year Published. (indent) Print.
Behrendt, Greg, and Liz Tuccillo. He's Just Not That into You: The No-Excuses (indent)Truth to Understanding Guys. New York: Simon Spotlight, 2004.
Part of a Book/ Anthology – Print Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Chapter, Poem, Story, or Article.” Title (indent)of Book. Editor/Compiler. City Published: Publisher, Year Published. (indent)Pages. Print.
Bloor, Laura. “I Just Wanted to Be Skinny.” Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul
(indent)III: More Stories of Life, Love, and Learning. Comps. Jack Canfield, Mark
(indent)Hansen, and Kimberly Kirberger. Deerfield Beach: Health (indent)Communications, 2000. 253-55. Print.
Website Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title.” Title of Website. Version or Edition. (indent)Name of Organization or Institution (if none, write n.p.), Date of (indent)Publication or Update (if unavailable, write n.d.). Web. Date Accessed.
“Writing Annotated Bibliographies.” The OWL at Purdue. Purdue Writing Lab, (indent)2009. Web. 15 May 2009.
Databases Databases usually have the citations done for you. Either there is a citation button to click or the citation appears at the end of the article!
Note-taking TipsTeachers have preferences for the way you should take notes. This will be specified in the assignment & rubric. You will be required to take notes on physical or electronic note cards. 1. Write the author's last name & page number on the top left of the card. 2. Write the subject heading from your working outline on the top right of the card. If you use a label that is not in your working outline, 3. The order of your cards will be determined later by your final outline. 4. Put the page number in a circle before your notes for that page. 5. Write one idea from one source on each card. 6. Don't document common knowledge unless your source interprets or analyzes it. 7. Types of note cards: Direct quote:
Use when the impact of the sentence(s) would be destroyed by paraphrasing or summarizing.
Copy word for word & enclose in quotation marks.
If you have a quote within a quote, make the interior quotes single quotation marks.
Periods & commas go inside quotation marks; all other punctuation marks go inside only if the mark is part of the quotation.
If there is an error in the original source, write [sic] after the error.
If you omit words for brevity, use an ellipses (...) to indicate the omitted words.
If you change any words in the quotation to your own words (for brevity or explanation), put them in brackets ([ ] ).
The following changes are allowed without brackets: changes in capitalization, internal or final punctuation marks, tense, & the order of ideas or sentences.
Paraphrase
A paraphrase is a re-write of the original source, using your own word choice, sentence structure, & voice.
If you only change some of the words, you are plagiarizing.
Read the passage from the original source, close the book or look away from the screen, & write the gist of the information from memory.
Summary
A summary is a synopsis or condensation of lengthier material.
Your Ideas
Use if you want to note your ideas while you are using a source.
Once you find a good source you want to use for your paper/project, begin a Works Cited page & record the source in MLA Citation style. Some teachers require you to fill out source note cards. Below are common source formats with examples. Scroll down for tips about note taking.(Note: Some teachers may prefer APA format.)
MLA Citation Examples for Common Sources:
All entries:
Book – Print
Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title. City Published: Publisher, Year Published.
(indent) Print.
Behrendt, Greg, and Liz Tuccillo. He's Just Not That into You: The No-Excuses
(indent)Truth to Understanding Guys. New York: Simon Spotlight, 2004.
Part of a Book/ Anthology – Print
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Chapter, Poem, Story, or Article.” Title
(indent)of Book. Editor/Compiler. City Published: Publisher, Year Published. (indent)Pages. Print.
Bloor, Laura. “I Just Wanted to Be Skinny.” Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul
(indent)III: More Stories of Life, Love, and Learning. Comps. Jack Canfield, Mark
(indent)Hansen, and Kimberly Kirberger. Deerfield Beach: Health
(indent)Communications, 2000. 253-55. Print.
Website
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title.” Title of Website. Version or Edition.
(indent)Name of Organization or Institution (if none, write n.p.), Date of (indent)Publication or Update (if unavailable, write n.d.). Web. Date Accessed.
“Writing Annotated Bibliographies.” The OWL at Purdue. Purdue Writing Lab,
(indent)2009. Web. 15 May 2009.
Databases
Databases usually have the citations done for you. Either there is a citation button to click or the citation appears at the end of the article!
Note-taking TipsTeachers have preferences for the way you should take notes. This will be specified in the assignment & rubric. You will be required to take notes on physical or electronic note cards.
1. Write the author's last name & page number on the top left of the card.
2. Write the subject heading from your working outline on the top right of the card. If you use a label that is not in your working outline,
3. The order of your cards will be determined later by your final outline.
4. Put the page number in a circle before your notes for that page.
5. Write one idea from one source on each card.
6. Don't document common knowledge unless your source interprets or analyzes it.
7. Types of note cards: Direct quote:
Paraphrase
Summary
Your Ideas